Stories Buried Underneath
by Atem no koibito
Summary: When Joey and Mai finds a cat in an alleyway, they're surprised when they see its state. Moods turn to anger when they realised that the cat belongs to a rich family, and completely disgusted they storm over to the home only to find out that there is more to the story than they had thought. Apparently the owner was just a thirteen year old boy who died only four days ago. AU
1. Chapter 1

_**Slightly re-vamped on April 8**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2015. Previous title was called, "A Story behind Everything". Used to be just one chapter. While editing, I split it into two and made it two chapter because it was so darn long. xD**_

 **I hope you all enjoy this one. To be honest, I actually wrote this a long time ago for a friend of mine. I just remembered about it and decided, what the heck? Why not write a Yu-Gi-Oh version out of it? So, here it is! :)**

 **Alternate Universe**

 **WARNINGS:**

 **-OOCness**

 **-Joey x Mai pairing**

 **-Character Death**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Stories Buried Underneath

Chapter 1

* * *

It was late January and the snow was slowly melting, leaving icky, brown slush on the ground. However, to get rid of her worries, Mai's morning was instantly brightened by the warm morning sun that shone gently upon Domino City. Her golden, long hair swayed in the wind as she walked with a bounce in her step. Purple eyes were wide with relief, and utter happiness, but did not cover up the sharp, competitive nature. With a small smile on her lips, she turned the corner of the alley and stopped in front of a rundown looking apartment building.

Waiting patiently, Mai watched the morning fog quietly, absentmindedly wiping the dew off her violet, buttoned up jacket before stuffing her purple, leathered covered hands back into her pockets. A while had passed by, causing her to grow slightly impatient. Irritated, she tapped her purple, knee length heeled boots on the ground while she glanced at her black jeans out of boredom. Finally she looked up with relief when a dirty blond male popped his head through the front doors.

"Hey, Mai!" was his cheery reply as he stepped out, the big doors swinging closed. She glared at him, her face firm.

"What, no sorry?!" she exclaimed, stepping away from him as he came close. Honey coloured eyes widened.

"What are ya talkin' about?"

"It's almost eight, Joey!" she shouted. "You said you would be ready by seven forty five, but I've been waiting down here for fifteen minutes!"

"Really?!" Joey replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't think it'd be that late. Besides, I kinda thought that, you know, you'd take longer cause you're a girl and-"

Mai's eyes slanted and then rolled. "Tea was right. You've never even been on a date so what could you possibly know about girls." She then looked up with a start as Joey grabbed her hand and pulled her close. With wide eyes she stared up at him, not seeing this side of her friend – possible boyfriend – before in all the time she had known him.

"Mai, I'm sorry, okay? I promise I'll try to be on time next time," and she watched worriedly as he smiled at her. "I really like you so I want to try my best to at least let you have a great time today." Pulling away and stepping back, she looked back up at him with a frown, nodding.

"Alright, but promise that you'll stop taking 'dating lessons' from Tristan," she warned, and watched at Joey's eyes grow wider with surprise.

"Wait, how'd ya know that Tristan was the one who told-"

"It's not that hard to figure out!" she called, walking away before stopping to turn around and look at him. "So, are you coming or not? I'm hungry!"

Joey broke out into his regular, silly grin and ran up next to Mai after grabbing his jacket.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they walked back towards the main road. Joey shrugged.

"I thought we could walk to Kiku's Coffee House across the street and then head to the park and wander around until lunch time. And then, after lunch we could head on to the movie theatre to watch that new movie." Joey trailed off after that, his concentration fully on avoiding the deep holes and trash that littered the area. "Wha'dya think?" he asked after a while, looking up quickly to glance at her. She nodded her head.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea actually. I bet you thought of this one yourself," she teased, "and not from Tristan. It doesn't suck."

Joey laughed. "Nah, I asked Tea for advice." At that, Mai stopped laughing and gave the teen a look of shock. She then shook her head after getting over the surprise.

"Of course. I should have known that you couldn't have thought of anything on your own."

"Hey!" he exclaimed at the comment.

Two minutes later, the two were nearing the end of the wide alley and almost on to the main road. They would have gotten out earlier if it wasn't for the many pot holes filled with water from the rain that had fallen the night before. With slightly soaked shoes, they breathed in air that didn't have the smell of urine and trash.

"I'll probably get Kiku's latte. I heard they have a new worker that makes amazing latte art!" Mai exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'll probably get a regular coffee with a bagel. I want to get in and out quickly," Joey said before he scowled. "I don't want to see Tatsuya's ugly face."

Mai grumbled, rolling her eyes at the name. "Oh yeah… him. Even though he's fired, people still has to see his face every time they go in."

"Kiku should kick him out."

"Then he'll be living on the streets! Kiku wouldn't do that to her nephew no matter how much of a jerk he is," Mai said, sighing. She then turned to Joey with a different idea. "Do you want to get breakfast and have it at the park?"

"Nah, I don't wanna to be rude. Kiku will feel bad if we buy and just leave," Joey explained.

Mai nodded, agreeing. "Yeah."

Coming to a stop light, Mai and Joey waited patiently for the lights to change, not even affected by the loud honking the cars made or the deep rumble trucks made when they rolled by. Due to the norm of these type of sounds all her life, Mai found it quite odd to hear a soft mewling sound coming from somewhere. It was very soft, and sounded like a little plea for help. The heartbreaking cry made her heart hurt, so immediately she turned around to find the source.

"Mai, what's wrong?" Joey asked, watching as she stepped on to the sidewalk and began to look around the dead bushes.

"Can't you hear it?" she whispered, trying to keep her ears on the sound of the crying. Joey rose a brow, not sure of what she was talking about.

"Hear what?"

"It's crying," she said, looking around more frantically.

"What?!" Joey exclaimed, turning to look at the sign that now said GO. Seeing that Mai wasn't going to leave the mystery of the sound alone, he groaned before walking up to her.

"Mai, it's probably nothing!" he insisted, but let out a deep breath when he saw that Mai had wandered into the alley way. Frowning, he followed her in with a helpless sigh.

"Help me find it," she said, pulling her hair behind her ear as she looked around the boxes and trash.

"Find what?" Joey mumbled, staring at her with an annoyed pout on her face.

"The cat! It sounds like a kitty," she said.

"What…" he began, but he never did finish his confused sentence because Mai's squeal could be heard through the loud traffic.

"Aww, isn't she the cutest thing," Mai cooed, kneeling down as she reached out to touch the cat that was curled up behind a dumpster, shivering on a pile of dirty cardboard. It mewled once more as it saw her and she couldn't resist the urge to pick it up and cuddle it.

"Mai, don't touch it! It might have germs or somethin' on it," Joey warned, however it was too late. Mai was walking over to him with a cat with soft, grey fur that was now darkened due to rain, dirt, and mud. Its feet was darker which showed that the paws were naturally a darker shade than the fur. As Mai brought the cat closer, Joey melted under the big, watery green eyes and the pink, runny nose. Joey watched wearily as Mai cradled it in her arms.

"Mai, I'm tellin' ya. That thing could be infected or somethin'! Leave it and let's go!" Mai however ignored him and continued to hold the cat. He watched as Mai reached under its neck.

"It's not a stray, Joey," she said.

"Look at it! It has to be a stray," he shouted exasperated. "There's no way someone could purposely leave the cat here."

"Oh, and you're ready to leave it?" Mai shot back, smirking as Joey stuttered and then was ultimately silenced by her comeback. "See, it has a collar," she stated, and showed Joey the small, red strap where a golden coloured circle lay against the cat's fur. On the collar, Mai noticed a word engraved on to the circle. Leaning closer, her eyes widened by what it read.

 _Prince._

"It's not a _her_ , it's a _him_ ," she exclaimed, looking up at Joey. "And by this pure gold collar, I could say that this boy here is an actual prince." She grinned, looking at Joey who just scowled.

"A rich person's cat? Of course. Only they could throw a small animal like that out. They have no soul!" Joey shouted.

At that, Mai had to frown. At first she had thought that the owners were probably unable to take care of it, or the cat had simply run away. The owners however were very wealthy if they were able to afford a gold collar for their pet. Surely they should have been able to take care of the cat. Her frown then stiffened and her eyes hardened with anger.

"We should take him to his owner," Mai said, determination in her voice.

"What about our date!?" Joey exclaimed.

"We'll worry about that later. As for now, we're going to clean this kitty up and then go and give his owner a piece of my mind," she declared angrily. "Being stuck up and a snob is one thing, but mistreating animals is just cruel!"

Joey sighed, having no other choice than giving in. "Alright. Where do we go?" he said, shooting he cat an annoyed glare. The cat in return hissed and swiped its paw at him.

Mai chuckled, seeing the interaction. "Aw," Mai said. "Looks like little Prince here can defend himself from the big, bad doggies." She chuckled, winking at Joey for reasons that caused Joey's _List of Things that went wrong on his First Date_ , to grow longer. He scowled at the old joke which given to him by his sworn enemy, Seto Kaiba, who was the CEO of the biggest gaming company in Japan.

"Stupid rich boy..." Joey grumbled, remembering the moment Kaiba gave him the awful nickname.

"Silver drive, Kennedy Road. House number two hundred and eight. _Y. Moto_ ," Mai said to herself.

"What's that?" Joey asked, still fuming, even though the address had caught his interest.

"It's the address," Mai said, holding on to the squirming Prince in her arms. "And, the owner's name is also engraved here."

"That's the address?!" Joey yelled out.

"Yeah, why?" Mai asked, looking at the shocked face of her boyfriend with a curious look.

"Kaiba lives on that street!" Joey cried out, grabbing his hair in frustration.

Mai sighed. "Joey, relax. Silver drive is a long street. I'm pretty sure that you won't run into Kaiba anyways, so stop being a big baby. Besides, the owner isn't a Kaiba, it's a Moto," she scolded.

"But all the rich people live on that street. I get irritated just being around those people!" Joey shouted once more, crossing his arms.

Mai scowled. "Well, I want to go get justice for Prince. If you don't want to go with me, I'll just go by myself," she said, and then walked away.

"Where are you going?" Joey called.

"I'm going to Kiku's to get Prince cleaned up! She loves cats!" Mai replied, and seeing the light start to count down as she crossed the street, Joey sighed and ran up to catch her.

"Okay, okay, I'll come with you."

Mai turned around. "Promise?"

"Promise," Joey replied.

* * *

It didn't take them long to clean Prince up. When they were done, they thanked Kiku and Mai continuously petted Prince's soft, grey fur, feeling his black coloured paws graze against her jacket. Prince was sick also, so they needed to get him to a vet as well. As they got outside, the cab they had called to take them to the desired address was already waiting. They got in the back seat, and with Prince on her lap she gave the driver the directions. In no time they were pulling away.

Fifteen minutes later they turned down Silver drive. Joey glared at each of the houses, probably hoping that he was glaring at the right house of a certain someone. He stopped though when Mai shot him a stern look, only to continue glaring at the houses with hatred a minute later.

Actually, the structures they drove by couldn't be called houses. They looked like mansions! There were huge lawns, royal entrances, big gates forbidding intruders from entering, and as an extra precaution, guards standing watch in front of each. The most popular and wanted cars stood in the driveways, security cameras eyeing the property to make sure no one was sneaking in and doing things they weren't supposed to be doing. The streets were clean, lawns well taken care of. The drying snow not even making slush as they were washed away, dim green grass being seen underneath.

They then stopped as the driver announced their stop. Getting out, both held their breaths as they came face to face with the biggest mansion on the street. It was a creamy white colour with gold outlining it. Even the gates were a golden colour and the driveway was covered with ivory white and elegant tiles.

"Wow," Mai breathed as she stared in awe. Prince was squirming, trying to jump out of her arms, but she held on tightly. "Looks like someone can't wait to see their master?" Mai said, brushing his head. Prince arched at the touch. "Don't worry. I'll make sure your owner never hurts you again." Prince mewled.

Joey just shot secret glares at the house as Mai pulled him towards the gate. They came to one of the many guards that was standing in front of the gates. Feeling a somewhat morose aura coming from the house and the guards, Mai and Joey gave each other quick glances. The thought of why so many guards and security was surrounding this house in specific had crossed their minds. He watched as the cops walked around the area, glancing around as if looking for something. He then watched as they left, getting into their cars and then driving off.

"What do ya thinks goin' on?" Joey asked, watching as the police car drove away. Mai shrugged in response.

"State your business," a gruff voice said as Mai and Joey approached. Joey was about to give the guard a piece of his mind before Mai started to talk.

"We found this cat in an alleyway. Seeing the collar we came to return it to its owner," Mai said as calmly as possible while holding the cat in full view.

The guard's eyes widened. Saying things too quickly for them to understand, he opened the gates without another word directed towards them and ushered them in. Mai looked puzzled and Joey thought the guard was nuts.

"Well, that was odd..." Mai trailed off. Joey just shrugged.

"Nyeh. I don't care. Let's just return the cat, yell at some rich snobs, and then go back to our date."

"His name is Prince!" Mai said, punching Joey in the arm.

"Okay, okay. Let's hurry up and return, Prince, so we can go back to our date," Joey said, speaking the name with sarcasm. Mai shot Joey a firm look before they walked up to the big oak doors which had golden handles on it. As soon as Joey reached out to knock on the door, it swung open by itself.

They stood in the doorway, both blinking stupidly with absolutely no idea what to do.

Cautiously stepping in, they admired the furnishings and all the small details of the house. A grand staircase was in the corner on the left, before it a wide living room, couches facing a huge flat screen TV pressed against the wall. To the right, a long, glass dining table that could seat thirty people was there and just behind it were two sets of big double doors. They looked farther down and saw a small door that probably led outside. Or, so they assumed, however. Right in the middle of the hall there was a big frame that hung from the wall. This caught both Mai and Joey's attention as they went all the way in, looking at the picture frame with high curiosity.

In it was a teenage boy. He was smiling brightly, his hair like none have ever seen before. Golden bangs hung from his head, outlining his face and shooting upwards into his black hair with was highlighted with red tips. The boy was very pale, and he had crimson eyes. His smile was soft, yet happy. He was wearing a black dress shirt, the collars folded as two of the top buttons were left open, revealing his neck. His sleeves were also unbuttoned, rolled up to his elbows as a small cat sat in his arms; a cat that Mai and Joey knew very well. The picture had a golden frame around it, and at the bottom was a gold platter with a name on it.

"Yami Moto," Joey read out loud. "So that's your master?" he asked, looking at the cat who was desperately struggling to get out of Mai's arms. "He doesn't look very mean."

"And he doesn't seem like the type to just dump his pet and run," Mai said next.

"Then, where is he? And, why was Prince outside for who knows how long?" Joey questioned, looking up the stairs as if waiting to see if anyone would walk down them.

Mai looked around. "I have no idea, and there's no one here that we could even ask!" She looked back at Joey who was now wandering around. Mai then caught a middle age woman who was carrying a basket of laundry.

"Hey!" she called out.

The woman stopped, shifting the basket to get a better grip. "Yes?" she asked softly.

"Uh, do you know where Yami Moto is? I believe we found his cat," Mai explained, showing the woman Prince who was clawing at her arms. Luckily his claws were not too long, so it didn't hurt much.

The woman paled as she saw the cat, then looked back up at Mai. She then began to shake, her eyes turning red as if she was about to cry before taking off, running up the stairs as fast as she could.

"Well, that was even odder," Mai said to herself.

"Well, did she know?" Joey asked as he finished looking around the living room and then walked up towards her.

"No. I asked her if I could meet her owner and she ran away!" Mai exclaimed, looking at the staircase. Joey shook his head sadly.

"I'm tellin' ya, these folks probably poisoned their minds, that's why they're acting so skittish and fearful," he wondered out loud. Spotting the glare Mai shot him, he raised his hands in defense. "Okay, I'm being good."

It was Mai's turn to shake her head sadly. "There's no one around, and we most likely came all this way for nothing. Ugh! You try to do one good thing and- You know what? Maybe we should just go to the cops."

"Now why would you do that?" a voice said suddenly said, and Mai and Joey turned towards the voice. Immediately though Joey's yelling was heard.

"Why you, Kaiba!" he shouted, balling his hands into fists.

Mai face-palmed. Oh, why was everything going wrong? Maybe she should start adding things to Joey's list.

"Wheeler? What are you doing here?" Kaiba asked not so very nicely, a sneer on his face and anger in his voice, rolling his ice blue eyes.

"Joey, cool it," Mai whispered.

Joey took a deep breath as he put his hands down. "I swear if he makes me mad, I'm gonna give it to him," he whispered back.

"We brought Yami's cat, Prince. Where is he?" Mai asked Kaiba ignoring Joey who was shooting the CEO a death glare.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, dropping the glaring contest he was winning against Joey to give Mai a serious glance.

"Where is Yami?" Mai repeated, pointing at the picture frame that hung on the wall.

Kaiba was silent, staring at the picture sorrowfully for a long time. He sighed, bracing himself before looking at Mai. He was unable to hide the heartbrokenness and sadness from his face.

"Yami? You'll have to go pretty far to reach him now."

* * *

 **Yeah, so I split the two chapters. Hope this is good. I really like how I'm re-doing it. Two years is a long time apparently since I was such an awful writer! LOL**

 **Review! And thanks for reading. The next chapter will be up soon. This story is after all, a two-shot. I have the other chappie ready xD**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, here's the second half to the formerly named, "A Story Behind Everything." I hope that all of you new readers like it, and I want to thank you all for the reviews last chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Stories Buried Underneath

Chapter 2

* * *

"Well, could you tell him we returned Prince when he comes back?" Mai asked. Kaiba didn't reply, but she continued anyways. "We found Prince soaked to the bone, dirtied, and he's sick. How could Yami let him become like this?! Does he not care about what happens to his pet?"

"Yami cared a lot about Prince-"

"What, so now he doesn't care?!" Mai shouted.

Kaiba's eyes slanted in anger at the tone Mai was using. "Do not jump to conclusions. When you don't know what's going on, do not assume things."

"Hey, shut up rich boy!" Joey said, stepping in front of Mai. "You can't talk to her that way.

"You shut up, dog," Kaiba snapped.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Joey then shouted. "All you rich folk are the same. You use people, then dump them! If you can't take care of something, why take it?!" He scoffed, shaking his head. "You people are so greedy. You care more about your status than those a little bit underneath you. Yeah, humans don't really care much, but c'mon! What did the animal do?"

Scowling, Kaiba turned away from Joey without a sound. He had no words to tell the blonde at the moment. He was tired, fatigued, and stressed for the past few days so hearing someone accuse him without any facts was making his anger level rise.

"Yugi! Can you come for a moment?" Kaiba suddenly yelled out. Mai and Joey stood there, still fuming. Turning back around, Kaiba stared at the cat in Mai's arm before looking at the huge frame on the wall. After no one came, Kaiba called for someone else.

"Mokuba!"

"Yes, big bro?" a voice quickly replied. Looking around, Mai and Joey finally noticed a child sitting on couch, reading a book. They didn't notice him when they walked in as the child was as quiet as a mouse. The little boy looked to be around seven and eight years old. He had long, black locks of hair, and as he looked up to glance at Kaiba; they saw big, grey eyes.

"Can you go call Yugi?" Kaiba told him. The child nodded. Closing his book and dropping it on the coffee table, he quickly got up and hurried upstairs.

A few minutes later, Mokuba came back. "He's coming," was the simple reply before he returned to the couch and opened his book once more.

Kaiba looked up towards the top of the staircase, and seeing him look, Joey and Mai looked to see as well. At the top, holding on to the railings stood a small child. He was much younger than Mokuba and looked to be around five to six years of age. He walked down the stairs slowly, his eyes never moving from the two blondes that watched him curiously.

The child was wearing a blue t-shirt and black shorts that went to his knees, along with a long pair of white socks on his tiny feet. Surprisingly, his hair was just like Yami's, excluding the blond spikes that shot upwards. Instead of having bangs shoot up, his bang drooped downwards in the middle of his forehead. And instead of sharp crimson eyes, he had big, round, innocent looking purple eyes. However, those beautiful eyes held a tinge of sadness in them, an expression that had Mai and Joey fully confused.

"Yes, Seto?" Yugi replied softly, stepping up to the blue eyed teen. Ignoring Joey and Mai, Kaiba replied with a big smile, pointing at the cat in Mai's arms.

"Look who came back," he said, and that caused Joey to do a double-take because of Kaiba's sweet and kind nature towards the child.

Looking towards Mai, the little child bit his finger, watching Mai wearily, looking at her with the cutest expression in the world. His eyes lit up with glee as he spotted the cat in her arms.

"Prince!" he cried out, and he ran towards Mai. Mai jumped as the cat managed to leap out of her arms and race towards the child. Yugi dropped to his knees as he gathered the cat in his arms, petting it and smiling as tears ran down his face.

"Prince! You're back! We missed you," Yugi said, kissing Prince's nose and then hugging him. "Thank you," Yugi told Mai, his eyes red and watery. Not waiting to hear a reply, they watched with utter shock as Yugi walked away with Prince.

"Okay, who is that?" Mai asked, watching as Yugi walked back up the stairs.

"He's my cousin, and Yami's little brother," Kaiba spoke. Mai and Joey just looked at him.

"He's you cousin?!" Joey exclaimed, looking at Kaiba.

"Yes, you mutt! Weren't you listening to what I said?" Kaiba yelled.

"I don't believe it," Joey said as he turned away, shaking his head with disbelief. "You related to an adorable kid like that…"

"Well, believe it," was all Kaiba said in return followed by a roll of his eyes.

"So, where's Yami?" Mai asked suddenly, breaking the tension in the room between the two teens. "I need to talk to him. He cannot be so careless when it comes to animals. Prince could have died-"

Kaiba put up a hand that stopped her from continuing. "Yami was never careless when it came to Prince. It was Prince that ran away."

Mai scowled. "Why are you talking like that about him in the past tense? You're speaking about him as if he's dead or something!"

Silence was all she received, and seeing Kaiba's expressionless face had her rethinking her words. "Is he…" she hesitated, eyes wide.

Kaiba sighed. "Yes." Silence. "He's dead."

Her hand covered her mouth out of instinct as she stared at the picture on the wall and back towards Kaiba. "R-really? Oh my god, h- how?" she stuttered, words having a hard time forming in her head at what she heard.

Joey was silent, staring at Kaiba uneasily. "Sorry to hear…"

"For what?" Kaiba snapped angrily, looking up at him. "Why are you sorry? You knew absolutely nothing about what was going on and you come into his home and throw insults at him?!"

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't know, alright?" Joey said.

"I'm sorry too," Mai said. "We didn't know."

Kaiba scoffed. "Yeah, obviously. Because if you knew anything about my family, you would know of Yami's kind and caring nature. He loved animals. He wanted to take care of all animals."

Joey remained silent, but his hands were clenched into fists. Mai put a hand on Joey's shoulder in an attempt to cool him down.

"How old was he?" she asked.

"He was only thirteen," Kaiba said, staring at the ground. "He passed away only four days ago."

"So he's younger than you?" Mai asked.

"Yes, by five years. His age fooled everyone though. He had a very intellectual mind, making him wiser, therefore older, but he was very small, making him look like he was just nine or ten," Kaiba explained with a smile before calling a maid over, telling her to bring a few drinks over for the guests. Mai noticed it was the same maid that ran off earlier when she asked about Yami. The maid scurried off into the first double door that Mai and Joey had spotted.

"The funeral was just yesterday. During that time, Prince somehow escaped. We didn't notice until we returned."

"What's with the cops then?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, there was a group of investigators and a few cops when we arrived. We saw them leave," Mai explained.

"They were just finishing up their investigation," Kaiba replied seriously.

"Investigation for what?" Joey asked.

Kaiba looked at him. "Yami was murdered, that's why they were investigating."

Feeling guilt rise up in their guts, Mai and Joey were unable to look at Kaiba in the eyes. They had made a very big mistake in accusing Yami, and Kaiba, for what happened to Prince.

"What happened?" Joey asked, moving as Kaiba ushered them to sit on the couch as Mokuba got up to be with Yugi.

Kaiba sighed, then looked at the pair before he spoke. "He was shot in the head. Luckily police arrived just in time to take the person away."

"Why?" Mai asked fearfully. "Who would want to kill such a young boy? And for what reason?"

"I'm not sure. However, he wasn't a target or anything like that. The person was a robber who broke in. He was expecting to meet an empty house because he barged in with no care in the world. Unfortunately he was armed, and we were alone at home. So when the man spotted us…" Kaiba trailed off, unable to go on. Somehow he forced himself to tell the story, knowing he couldn't keep it bottled up in his mind for too long.

"It was a school day. He was home, terribly sick. He had a fever and could barely move. Everyone was at school, his parents had gone to work, and Yugi was in playschool. His father had an important meeting and wanted to call it off to take care of Yami. But the meeting was important so I told him to go, promising to take care of Yami while he was away," Kaiba explained, and then sighed, pushing his hair back.

"If only I hadn't dropped him. If I was a bit quicker, the man wouldn't have seen me."

"Kaiba, it couldn't have been your fault," Mai said. "You didn't know-"

"Stop speaking as if you know what happened. You know nothing about me, nor about the event," Kaiba snapped angrily. Mai fell silent.

"Would you stop being so rude? She's just worried about ya," Joey said, defending Mai.

"Now she's worried?" Kaiba continued. "Where was the care when you barged in here with baseless accusations?"

"We didn't know," Joey said.

"Well don't act as if you do!" Kaiba yelled. "I'm tired of people coming up with their own stories in their heads and believing everything everyone says."

"Well maybe if you stopped being so stuck up, people will like you more!" Joey shouted, looking at Kaiba who was glaring at him.

"I am not stuck-up. I just don't like hanging out with complete idiots. You have your friends, I have mine."

"You could try to be a little nicer," Mai mumbled.

"And why should I?" Kaiba asked. "It doesn't matter if I'm nice or not. People will just come up with their own ideas to spread hate around. They'll start the rumours, and we're the ones who will have to deal with the lies."

"But that's how you portray yourself, you know," Mai said.

"Hey, I'm not saying that we're all snobs. There are some people, unfortunately, rich, poor, middle class, I don't really care; that acts like that. Why are you putting all the blame on _rich people_? What does that have to do with anything? All of us are not like that, alright? There's always a story underneath. Sadly people refuse to spend the time finding out the truth. They will easily accept whatever lies are being fed to them and call that the truth. The things you hear may not always be the true story."

"Well why don't you say something?" Mai asked, looking at Kaiba.

"Why? So people can call us liars?"

"We don't think you're lying," Joey said.

Kaiba chuckled sarcastically. "Yeah, thanks. Means a lot to me."

"Why don't you tell us the real story then? We won't think that you're a liar," Mai continued, grabbing Joey's arm to keep him from punching the brunet. Luckily at the same time, the maid brought two glasses of soda and gave one to Mai and Joey which quickly distracted the blonde.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked. Seeing two sincere nods, he sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you since you brought Prince back home."

 _"Do you need anything?" I asked, watching him carefully. He shook his head and buried himself deeper under the covers. "Are you sure?" I asked again, and this time he nodded, only to change his mind and shake his head once more with a small smirk on his lips._

 _"Make up your mind!" I scolded playfully. Even though he was practically bedridden at this point, he still wanted to tease me._

 _He smiled, stating the same._ _"I love messing with you." His voice was raspy and dry. He looked up at me with half-lidded eyes, petting Prince softly since the cat was curled up next to him, sleeping._

 _I rolled my eyes. "Do you need water or anything?" I repeated, picking up the empty pitcher that was sitting on top of the nightstand beside his bed. I heard him cough, his throat clearly dry._

 _"Yeah a little," he finally replied after he was done coughing. I watched as he took a deep breath from his mouth, slowly turning around so he wouldn't wake up Prince as he wrapped the blanket tighter around himself._

 _It was late December - almost New Years – and the weather couldn't possibly get much worse. It was so cold outside and since Yami was severely sick, it made him feel ten times colder no matter how much I turned up the heat and brought several blankets to keep him warm. He was freezing so much that his teeth were chattering, his face red from the heat that was gathering inside of him due to the fever._

 _"I'll be right back," I informed, and I heard him sniff as I turned around to refill the pitcher. The door closed with a tiny click, securing it in place as I left. I didn't want to leave him alone for too long so I hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen. Warm water was kept on top of the kitchen counter, so I used that water to refill the pitcher._

It was a slow day, Yami and I were alone at home with two or three maids who were helping to clean the huge place up. I didn't think that anything bad would happen on a day like today, so as I left the kitchen, I was in for a big surprise. Just as I left the kitchen, I heard one of the guards call out to me.

 _"Mr. Kaiba! Quickly head to the safe room! Someone just broke in! They're at the gates!" And with that he slammed the front door, the lock turning. Confused and still a bit slow to understand what was going on, I didn't snap out of it until I heard shots. That seemed to help me start moving again because I raced up the stairs. I ran into Yami's room to see him struggling to sit up._

 _"Seto? What's wrong? What's going on?" he asked softly, seeing my panicked face._ _I just rushed up to him without replying and grabbed his arms as gently as I could. Only, I let go because his skin was boiling hot. Grabbing a blanket, I wrapped it around his shoulders and then threw his arms over my shoulder to keep him upright._

" _Seto? Seto what's wrong? What's happening?" he asked again, stumbling a bit. He held on to the front of my shirt as I carried him out the door._

 _"No time to explain. We have to get to the safe room," I responded quickly, and at that he gripped me tighter out of fear._

 _He almost tripped as I began to walk. He was so weakened that he could barely stand. Not knowing what to do, my heart jumped to my throat as I heard the shots getting louder, and then all of a sudden I heard the front door bursts open. I began to panic. Looking at Yami, I could tell he was in a lot of pain. His eyes were slipping close and his legs were giving out under him. He was losing consciousness, so I had to act quickly. Seeing no other way, I tightened my hold around his back and then grabbed his legs, holding him bridal style in my arms. I ran as fast as I could to the back of the house where a hidden doorway was kept. Only thing, I was too late. I heard a shot fire behind him, and I froze a bit as I saw the bullet collide with the wall in front of me._

 _Luckily they missed, but I just ran faster. They shot again and this time they hit me in the leg. I instantly fell to my knees, pain shooting up my right leg. From that, Yami fell out of my hands and rolled a little away from me. He didn't move. Every time he tried to move, wanting to help me as I laid on the ground with blood leaking from my wound, he would stumble and fall. He was shaking, still trying to get up as tears began falling from his eyes. His hand was next to his face as he looked at me, the blanket barely covering him anymore, shivers being seen as his thin, white, long sleeved shirt did no good to keep him warm. He wore sweatpants, but his feet were bare._

 _"S-S-Seto..." he cried, his teeth chattering._

 _I heard footsteps coming our way, and I forced myself to stand up. I was just about to grab on to Yami when I felt something collide with my head. I heard Yami let out a scream and immediately I looked up. I saw someone dressed in black. He was wearing a ski mask so I was unable to see his face, and in his hand was a small handgun. His cold, green eyes bore holes into my skull._

 _"Let… go of me," I heard Yami cry out, a series of coughs leaving his mouth after that. He was off the floor, the man holding him in the air by grabbing his hair. His face was redder than ever, and I could practically feel the heat radiating off of him._

 _Suddenly more footsteps were heard, and turning around I saw about six police officers rush up the stairs, guns in their hands._

 _"Freeze!" I heard them order. The thief however held on to Yami, holding him like a shield._

 _"Don't shoot, or I'll kill him!" the thief threatened, putting the gun to the side of Yami's head. I saw Yami wince, the cold metal against his heated skin making him very uncomfortable. Tears were still streaming down his face as he trembled. I tried to stand up again, but the thief kicked me back down._

 _"Seto!" I heard Yami cry out, and I was forced to watch him helplessly from my position on the ground._

 _"Put the boy down!" I heard one of the officers yell._

 _"Go away, then I'll let him go," the thief fired back._

 _"Just put the boy down and no one will get hurt," another officer said._

 _The thief started to sweat. It was pretty clear that he was new at the whole thieving business because he started to panic._ _"Leave, or I'll kill him!" He clenched Yami tighter, and I hear Yami cry out from the pain._

 _"Put him down!"_

 _"Leave!"_

 _"We won't hurt you! Just surrender and no one will get hurt!"_

 _"I'm warning you..." - click -_

 _"Put. The boy. Down."_

 _"I told you to leave!"_

 _"Don't do it!"_

 _"Shut up!"_

 _BAM_

" _YAMI!"_

Taking a deep breath, Kaiba stood up and began to pace. Retelling the story was getting to him, the guilt surfacing once more. Mai and Joey sat still, completely in shock. Tears rolled down Mai's face.

"That shot echoed around me. I thought I went deaf," Kaiba continued, his voice sounding far away. "I watched as his limp body fell to the ground, my screams ringing as I looked into his cold, opened, lifeless eyes. Blood was beginning to pool around his head rapidly and I felt sick to my stomach as I stared at the red liquid that just continued to leak like a broken pipe."

"The thief, I then noticed, fell to his knees with a scream as a cop shot him in the leg, the gun falling out of his grasp. I shut my eyes as I heard the sound of an ambulance, and a moment later I heard voices rushing up the stairs. I then felt myself being rolled over and on to a stretcher, and from the corner of my eye I looked at Yami, pleading to let me stay with him. They left him on the floor after they checked his pulse that had stopped. I was useless. He was already gone. For once after a really long time, I cried the entire way to the hospital until they finally put me under as I was rushed into the Emergency Room."

"Everyone hurried home as they heard the news, and to say they were shattered would be an understatement. When they came home, they saw their eldest son being taken out on a stretcher, his body absolutely lifeless. Seeing the blood that was soaking up on the rug upstairs and finding out that his brother was dead, Yugi lost it. He wouldn't stop crying for two days. Only yesterday he had finally calmed down, but remained very silent. During the funeral, Prince disappeared. No one could find him."

Kaiba then stopped, hearing a small sniff. Turning around he saw Yugi, shaking and crying. Yugi burst out into sobs and Kaiba got down on a knee as Yugi ran into his arms. Kaiba in turn returned the hug, rubbing the small boys back in an attempt to sooth him. Yugi hiccupped as he rubbed his eyes furiously, holding on to Kaiba's shoulder as the older one picked him up.

"Prince is the last thing left of him, so I thank you for returning him to us," Kaiba said quietly. At the tone, Joey and Mai understood that their visit was over.

They got up, setting their empty glasses down on the coffee table before walking to the front door, Kaiba following them out. The couple stopped as they watched Kaiba open the door with one hand, still carrying Yugi in the other. He was silent, Yugi sobbing quietly, holding the door open for them.

Mai walked up to Yugi, placing a hand on his back. She had a small smile on her face. Yugi looked up with his tear stained cheeks, sniffling. She wiped the tears away silently, then pulled back as she waved goodbye and went to stand next to Joey.

"Later," Joey said, quietly, "and I'm sorry, for everything that has happened." Kaiba nodded. As they turned around to leave, the thud of the door closing reaching their ears.

Joey and Mai walked down the steps of the entrance, Mai holding on to Joey's arm, hugging tightly. It was already past lunch as they left. Neither of them spoke a word, both deciding to remain quiet as if remembering, or trying to picture the boy's short life and how quickly it had ended. As they walked past the gate, the guard gave them a wave as they left.

"I can't believe it," Mai finally said quietly, looking at Joey with a calm expression. Her eyes held understanding, grief, and guilt.

"Yeah, me neither," Joey said, looking back at her.

"We came here, thinking that these people are awful, but in reality it was we who misjudged them."

Joey nodded. "I know. Maybe we, and many other people don't know the truth behind the things we're told. Kaiba's right. We're ready to accept that things are the way people say it is, but we don't go and see for ourselves."

"Take Yami for example," Mai said, looking up at the dark clouds that rolled overhead. "We assumed he was a terrible person without even knowing him. We never even knew his name until today. We didn't know his age, where he lived, nothing. Yet we assumed without unearthing the full story."

"Like they say, there's two sides to a story. How many of us are willing to go the extra mile to look at the other side. Look at something from a different angle?"

"We're too lazy, our society," Mai said.

"Not all of it. There's those handful of people that truly cares and don't, ya know, believe things that comes out of other people's mouth so easily."

Mai nodded, fishing in her purse for loose change. Finding all that she has, she dropped them into the hands of the man on the street, giving him a wide smile. "Thank you!" the rugged man called, smiling brightly.

"Why'd you do that?" Joey asked. "I thought you didn't like giving money because they use it for drugs, and stuff."

Mai shrugged. "Well, I'm going to do things differently. See, I believed what other people say about the homeless. I ignore that man every day, yet each time he greets me with a genuine smile. Why is that? Because I thought that way. I don't know his story. I don't know anything about him, so before jumping to conclusions, I'll try to do something good for the person."

Joey smiled. "Ah, I see. Learned a lesson today, haven't you?"

"Of course."

"You're going to be broke if you keep that up. I think you just gave away almost ten dollars of change to that man," Joey said. Mai shrugged.

"Well, you have to give love to get love. And even if you don't get love, still give it. Be the better person. If no one is doing it, at least you'll feel good knowing _you_ did something good."

Joey chuckled. "That's the deepest thing I've ever heard you say."

Mai laughed. "Well, better late than never."

The two walked in silence some more, Mai pulling out her phone to call a taxi to take them back to their area.

"Do you still want to go to the coffee house?" Joey asked, watching as their taxi pulled up next to them. Mai nodded, looking at him with a different light in her eyes.

"Yeah."

* * *

 **Yeah, I know. I'm not proud of the ending either, but I guess it was okay. Well, I hope you liked it! Please review!**


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